The Seventh
by Scarlet Heir
Summary: The Kenshin-gumi has been having bad dreams, but when someone is acting on those dreams, what can Kenshin do? Saito..Aoushi..Megumi..Yahiko..Sanouske..Kaoru..Kenshin.. Possible character deaths.
1. Default Chapter

Okay, well, i am beginning a new story, so bear with me for awhile.  
  
It might be a one shot, and it might be continued, depending how many reviews i get.  
  
The RK Characters are not mine, but the lyrics and various OCs named later are mine.(AKA The Villan!)  
  
Okay, now, let's get to the story.  
  
------  
  
Kaoru woke with a start, her dreams were becoming more and more violent recently, and she had to clear her head.  
  
She rose, her hair tied back in it's braid fell over her shoulder.  
  
She ignored her house shoes and walked barefoot to her door.  
  
Sliding it aside, she stepped out into the open hallway and walked as silently as she could toward the bath.  
  
She knew that Kenshin was a light sleeper, and that the red haired ruroni would ask her questions that she didn't want to answer.  
  
But as she walked past his room, she heard groaning and shifting.  
  
sliding the door open a crack, she ghasped at the sight that met her eyes.  
  
Dream Sequence  
  
Kenshin was alone, covered in blood.  
  
The harsh winds blew through the feilds, blowing the metallic scent of blood over him.  
  
He closed his eyes, wishing it all away.  
  
When he opened them, he was not alone.  
  
There were seven crosses against the blood red sky.  
  
He looked on in horror as strands of ribbons and hair flowed from the front of the crosses, the backs were to him.  
  
He walked slowly, not wanting to know who were on the crosses, but not being able to help himself.  
  
As he slowly rounded the line, he could make out profiles against the sun, bleeding black profiles.  
  
He finally got to the front of them, and he stood there, hypnotized in his horror.  
  
Kaoru...  
  
Sano...  
  
Yahiko...  
  
Aoushi...  
  
Saito...  
  
Megumi...  
  
the last face, the face in the middle, he couldn't see.  
  
That last face horrified him.  
  
He screamed.  
  
End dream sequence  
  
He woke up screaming.  
  
He realized that he was being held in place, two slender arms snaked around him, keeping him where he was.  
  
He looked up to see Kauru's worried face.  
  
"Kaoru-do.."  
  
"Please, Kenshin, we are alone in the middle of the night, can we just drop your past for tonight?" Kaoru pleaded  
  
Kaoru looked down at him, admiration and worry in her blue eyes.  
  
"Bu..Hai. Okay." He said, looking past her to where the ceiling was beginning to leak with the autumn rain.  
  
Kenshin tried to sit up, and when she didn't let go, he looked up at her confused.  
  
"Kaoru?" he asked, his voice small.  
  
She didn't answer, her eyes were blank.  
  
"Kaoru?!" He asked again, his voice slightly louder now.  
  
Kaouru snapped out of her daze and looked down at him with warmth.  
  
"I'm sorry, Kenshin, i just kinda' dozed off there. I cant sleep."  
  
Kenshin looked up at the raven haired woman who held him, amazed that she could keep something from him.  
  
Kenshin somehow switched their positions, and they were holding each other.  
  
(A/N I'm about to cry. Sniffle sniffle)  
  
They were both exhausted, trembling.  
  
She looked up at him, a slight ray of happiness in her eyes.  
  
"Wanna talk?" she asked, "It looks like neither of us are getting any sleep tonight. I'll tell if you will."  
  
He looked down at the girl that attacked him the first day that they had met.  
  
Somehow his past had brought him here, and it was giving to him.  
  
"Aa, You look tired." he said, shifting so that they lay near each other.  
  
"You first. No hiding." she said, looking over at him, her sense of humor coming back.  
  
"Aa, yes maam!" he said, a ruroni-ish grin seeping over his face.  
  
(A/N i am obsessed with the word Seeping )  
  
He lay quietly for a few moments, searching for the words.  
  
"I am alone, soaked in blood, standing in a glorious feild of wheat as the sun sets in bloody glory.  
  
"Then i close my eyes for a moment, and there are seven black crosses protruding from the earth, like so many scars. There are people on them, i know even from behind.  
  
"I walk around the row, toward the front. I catch a few glimpses of profiles, made black by the sun, and when i finally get around to the front...." he choked back a sob.  
  
"When i get around to the front, and i stare up at the people on those crosses... There's Sanouske and Megumi...Yahiko and Aoushi...Saito and....You."  
  
He looked at her, searching her face for any sign of emotion.  
  
she had none.  
  
"There is a seventh, but i cannot see his face, his is the cross in the middle, the one that i cannot see the face, only that he has red hair, like me.."  
  
She reached out to him, then.  
  
He held onto her, sobbing into her yukata, and she just held him.  
  
She waited until his shakes had ceased before she tilted his face up and kissed his temple.  
  
Holding him to her, she began her own tale.  
  
"I am alone, nothing surrounding me, just blackness.  
  
"And then, i am not alone.  
  
"Something is behind me, i can feel it.  
  
"I catch a glimpse of white, and then he is standing there. His hair is white, his clothes are white, but his eyes...His eyes hold the cosmos.  
  
"I know he is not Kami-sama, he feels....evil.  
  
"I dont know what he wants, but then he has you.  
  
"He....He takes your sword....He takes your sword and he...." she broke down into sobs, burying her face into his burning red hair.  
  
"He....He slices your throat, spraying me with your blood....and then he has Yahiko and Sano, and Saito and Megumi and Aoushi...and then i am the only one left.  
  
"Then...then he runs toward me and i wake up....scratches on my chest and wrists...."  
  
He looks up at her, then, his eyes filled with horror and sadness.  
  
He once again switches their positions.  
  
She had been wearing her winter Kimono already, not showing her throat or arms.  
  
He had been worried that she had been getting a cold, but..  
  
He wripped open the front of her shirt, revealing the deep scratches, some of them fresh.  
  
He snarled, someone who can do this to someone like her was sick.  
  
"Kaoru..It's alright, nothing's going to happen." he whispered into her ear.  
  
"Kenshin.." she whispered looking up at him with love.  
  
he was enveloped by her deep blue eyes, falling into the abyss of them.  
  
He wiped a tear off her face with the back of one hand, bringing his mouth down, closer to hers.  
  
She raised her face toward his, thinking of only how his lips would taste.  
  
Their lips met, not hungrily, but softly, tenderly.  
  
Soon they were enveloped in each other, kagome nipping at his ear while he nuzzled her neck.  
  
They were enveloped in each other, the only thing keeping them from going to the full legth was pride.  
  
"Kaoru, we cant." he whispered against her hot mouth.  
  
"I know, but can't we just stay like this? at least for now?" she whispered back.  
  
"Aa, forever if we could." he said, curling around her.  
  
He felt her throat vibrate as she began to hum.  
  
"Sleep little one, the day will soon come close your bright eyes and fall into dream  
  
Sleep my little darling My precious little darling as i wait by your side sing the last lullaby..."  
  
He fell asleep, like that, her singing to him, her sweet voice filling the air around him.  
  
Kaoru smiled when his breathing went shallow, and he was asleep.  
  
She closed her eyes and fell into a dream.  
  
Sano woke around daylight, ready to eat.  
  
He noticed that there were no sounds in the dojo and he went to find kenshin.  
  
When he walked into Kenshin's room, he blushed a bright red.  
  
The red haired Ruroni was curled around Kaoru, their hair was unbound, and Kaoru's yukata was open, the only thing protecting her from view was Kenshin's arm wrapped protectively around her. Something bothered him, though.  
  
Scratches and bruises were all over Kaoru's wrists and chest, trailing up toward the base of her throat.  
  
Sano knelt and pulled the still sleeping Ronin out of the room.  
  
He felt the rage building within him.  
  
He punched the red haired ruroni out of his dreams and into the waking world.  
  
Kenshin sat, dazed, rubbing his jaw where sano had punched him.  
  
"Sano?" He asked, looking up at the ex-street fighter.  
  
"Dont you fuckin "Sano" me! What did you do to Jou-chan you bastard!" Sanouske yelled, seeing red.  
  
"Sanouske! I didn't do it! She told me not to tell, but i swear i did not do that! I would never, Sanouske, Never." Kenshin stood, not even bothering to run for his sakaba.  
  
"Who did it, Kenshin, I deserve to know who hurt her like that!" he said, panicking, his eyes wild.  
  
"Sanouske, have you been having trouble sleeping lately?" he asked, looking at the panicking man.  
  
"Oh, shit. I thought i was the only..." Something came to him, and he raced off toward the rooms.  
  
"Yahiko!" Kenshin cursed, then ran to Yahiko's room, where the spikey haired bou was just getting dressed.  
  
They burst opent the door to find him staring down at the bulge at his weist.  
  
Not a scratch on him.  
  
"Yahiko, hurry, Jou-chan will be awake soon, and i want to do something before she gets up." Sano said, covering his amusement by slamming the door shut.  
  
They had to run back out into the courtyard before they burst out into laughter.  
  
They were still laughing when Kauru came into the kitchen, fully clothed.  
  
When she awoke, she was alone. For a moment, she panicked, and then she heard voices.  
  
She could hear Kenshin and Sano joking around in the Kitchen and Yahiko grunting with his morning practice exorcizes.  
  
she snuck to her room and got her clothes on before walking into the kitchen.  
  
They stopped when she appeared in the doorway, but the started back laughing when they saw it was her.  
  
"What's so funny?" she grumped.  
  
"Yahiko....Yahiko just got his first morning boner." Sano choked out between laughs.  
  
Kaoru giggled, watching her pupil practice in the yard.  
  
"Breakfast is almost ready, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin said, looking up from the fire, an amused smile on his face.  
  
"Thank you, Kenshin, i will practice with Yahiko for a few minutes until then." she said, grabbing her Bokken on her way out.  
  
"Yahiko, It's like this!" they heard her say, and then they heard a feint "Ugly" from Yahiko, and a loud "You Little.." from kaoru, and they could hear shouts and screams coming and going as Kaoru chased Yahiko around the yard and through the dojo.  
  
"Jou-chan worries me sometimes. She acts like there is nothing wrong." Sanouske said, thinking aloud.  
  
"Aa. it is worrying." Kenshin admitted, looking down at the fire.  
  
"You telling me you didn't know?"  
  
"Aa." Kenshin pulled the pot from the fire, scalding one hand as he did.  
  
Shaking off the pinkish red hand, he watched as kaoru chased Yahiko past them.  
  
"Kaoru-dono is a verry strong person." he said, picturing her in his mind as she was last night.  
  
"Aye, that she is."  
  
Suddenly a shout came from the east gate and kenshin raced out, sakaba ready.  
  
He came to a dead halt when he saw who it was.  
  
Aoushi and Saito stood there, looking at each other, silent as always.  
  
Megumi was behind them.  
  
This was not good.  
  
Kenshin opened the gate and watched them walk in.  
  
"i need to speak to you alone, Himura." Saito said, nodding toward the far corner of the dojo.  
  
"Aa. as do I." Aoushi said. looking as emotionless as ever.  
  
"Himura, There have been a recent series of murders." Saito said, looking at the ruroni.  
  
"This in itself is not unusual, but the way in which these murders were committed was."  
  
"Each of the victims were tied to a cross with razor wire, and then their throats were ripped open... The killings make a pattern, a spiraling pattern with Tokyo as it's center point." Saito said, looking toward the sun.  
  
"The murders started in Kyoto, and they are travelling around Tokyo, toward Tokyo.  
  
"We can find nothing on these killings, nothing. Himura, we wouldn't come to you if the situation was anything but dire."  
  
"I will stay here, Saito, he is coming for me, whoever he is." Kenshin said, looking over toward Kaoru as she served tea to Aoushi.  
  
"How do you know, Himura?"  
  
"Don't they always? it's either me, or one of them, and either way, it is me that will fight, you know that, Saito." he said, looking the wolf in the eyes.  
  
"So be it."  
  
"Will you be staying here, or at the motel?" Kenshin asked, keeping careful watch on kaoru's stiff movements.  
  
"Will you have me?" Saito asked, looking at the ronin.  
  
"It is her desicion, not mine, wolf." Kenshin said, standing.  
  
He walked over to Kaoru and told her to sit down, and that he would take care of the rest of it.  
  
-------  
  
Okay, yall, tell me what you think. I really need to know.  
  
If i can find a way, i will upload the pic that i drew to go with this fic.  
  
It's the cross scene, and Gawd it's creepy and cool all at the same time!  
  
Okay, now, i need to get some sleep or i will fall asleep in Life science and have you ever smelled Ammonia? That smells really nasty!!!! EEEEEEWWWWW!!!  
  
People are unhappy because they only dwell in the past and the future, Not in the present. -Snow Drop. 


	2. Chapter Two, Even Then

OKay, yall, Thanks for all of the flaming reviews..NOT!  
  
Review responses time:  
  
Rekai () Thanks for your support, apparently the others dont want this fic continued.  
  
End of RR.  
  
Okay, now if yall don't start reviewing, then i'm gonna get mad, and yall dont like me when i'm mad, just ask my good friend Kimera Diablos, she knows.  
  
-----  
  
Aoushi and Saito were trying to out-silence each other, while Sanouske and Yahiko fought, Yahiko currently gnawing on Sano's head while Sano tried to shake him off, and Kaoru and Megumi were currently trying to get Kenshin's attentions as the poor ruroni tried to do the dishes.  
  
Aoushi had come to get away from Misao who was currently trying to get him to propose to her.  
  
The king of ice was melting, aside from what he would like to think.  
  
Kaoru watched as Kenshin dried the last dish, and then stood up.  
  
"Okay! Who wants to go out to the Kiato Tea House, the Guia Hinata is playing tonight?" She asked, drawing everyone's attention.  
  
Various shouts of "Yeah!" and "Cool" came from around the room.  
  
They seperated to get dressed, and reassembled soon after.  
  
---  
  
"Kaoru..My maiden. Your mother tried to keep me from you, and then you disappeared. I won't let you go now that i have found you again!"  
  
He was tall, his long black hair worn hanging around his face and shoulders.  
  
His black Kimono hid him in the shadows easily as he targeted his prey.  
  
A short man, around the age of thirty, would next fall under his cross.  
  
"Hello, my name is Gemni, Can you help me? I am trying to find the Riuko Gym?" He stepped out from the alley and into the man's path.  
  
Startled, he looked up at the man who had just spoken.  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
"I am looking for the Riuko Gym, can you help me?" He repeated himself.  
  
"Um, sure. You Follow this street to the Akamana cafe, and then you take a right, after that, take a left at the Gin house...or was that a left?" He paused, his face twisted into a frown, "Come on, I'll show you."  
  
"Thank you. My name is Gemni Higurashi, what's your name?" Gemni said, walking alongside the man.  
  
"Oh, My name is Gunn, Gunn Hiruto, Nice to meet you." he said, turning right.  
  
When they arrived at the gym, Gemni stopped. Slamming a hand against the back of the other man's head, he knocked the man out.  
  
Gunn grunted and fell onto the dirt, disturbing a small cloud of dust.  
  
"may the gods be with you in this hour." he whispered, picking the man up and taking him into a back alley to wait for midnight.  
  
Soon it was midnight, and Gunn dragged the man out into the central streets.  
  
Gunn tied the man to the cross on the ground and gently lifted him up into the air.  
  
Shoving the cross deep into the ground, he made sure it was steady.  
  
"Goodbye, my brother, and tell Hades I said hi." He took his sword and slasked the man through the throat, splattering his face, and the ground surrounding them, with Gemni's blood.  
  
"I am coming for you, Kaoru Kamiya, you will be mine." He whispered, more to himself, as he calmly, silently, walked away.  
  
-------  
  
Kaoru sipped at her fourth cup of Sake, Leaning heavily against Kenshin, the partialy drunk woman grinned at Yahiko's antics.  
  
Yahiko was dancing with Ayame, both blushing furiously.  
  
Sanouske and Megumi were dancing as well, Megumi having kept the ex-street fighter from drinking his sake.  
  
Aoushi and Saito were silently watching the dancers on the dance floor twirl and dash about.  
  
Kenshin, having drunken three cups of sake already, had a drunken blush on his face, his eyes staring into Kaoru's clouded blue ones when a crash interrupted the music.  
  
Standing at the door was a tall Tokyo officer, his hair ruffled and his clothes askew.  
  
Saito stood to meet the man.  
  
"What is it, Atsuke?" the wolf asked, searching the man's face.  
  
"Saito, There has been another attack!" Atsuke huffed.  
  
"Where?!" Kenshin demanded, instantly sober.  
  
"In a village near here, only a day's ride." the man said, looking from his leader to the ronin.  
  
"Go, we do not need this tonight, i will be at headquarters in the morning." Saito said, sitting down again.  
  
"Hai, Saito." Atsuke said, leaving.  
  
after a moment of silence, the band started up again, and the dancers started dancing, resuming their festivities, pointedly ignoring the ominous cloud that hung over the tea house.  
  
-----  
  
Okay, yall, i thought you would rather have this than wait for another week or so for the next chappie, that i do.  
  
Even though it is a cliffie.  
  
Well, This is the end of this little chappie.  
  
The next one is called "Nightmares alive, Kaoru's betrothed."  
  
See the little blue button?  
  
If you click it and tell it what you think, then maybe i will update sooner than i have been.  
  
If you see any flaws in the story, please tell me. But if it's just Spelling errors, then you can just "Kiss my shiney metal Arse!" Cause i have a crappy DOL computer with absolutely no hopes of upgrading, the thing does not even have a tower for crissakes, much less internet, (note the hectic update schedule.)  
  
Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. - My good friend Kimera Diablos. 


	3. Chapter Three, Nightmares Alive, and kao...

A nightmare realized, and Kaoru is Engaged?!  
  
Before you cuss at me, let's get this strait, i am a big fan of certain pairings, but i am strictly KK in this one.  
  
Okay, now that i have said my bit, let's get to the story.  
  
---  
  
The streets were silent.  
  
Nothing could be heard except for the sound of dance music coming from the closed door.  
  
Suddenly the door bursts open, spilling the noise out into the darkness and seven people half stumbled out into the streets.  
  
"Kaoru, what's that?" Sano asked, his voice slurred as he pointed to the wrapped package.  
  
Aoushi, who just happened to be the most sober of the seven, bent down to examine it.  
  
"It appears to be a package for miss Kamiya." He said, his voice holding a slight slur of it's own.  
  
"Ooooh! Gimme!" Kaoru said, holding out her free arm for the package.  
  
Aoushi immediately sobered completely, as well as the mibu wolf.  
  
"Kaoru, who is Gemni?"  
  
"I dunno." She said, scratching her head.  
  
She grabbed the package and started opening it.  
  
When the last of the papers came off, she opened the lid on the wooden box and peered inside.  
  
"Oooh, pretty!" she said, pulling the music box out.  
  
It was of a dragon curled around a pearl, with the kanji for Life and Love embedded on it.  
  
"Busu has a boyfriend!" Yahiko said, laughing.  
  
"Dont call me Busu you little brat!" Kaoru said, and chased the boy, weilding her bokken.  
  
"What do you think it is?" Sano asked Kenshin, who had both become sober as well.  
  
"We'll find out soon." he said, looking at the date inscribed onto the bottom.  
  
It was for tomorrow.  
  
"Come on, we need to get home."  
  
---  
  
Gemni watched the little group gather around the package he had lain so expertly there.  
  
When they dispersed, he followed them, back to the kamiya dojo.  
  
He sat in a tree, watching through Kaoru's window as she undressed and slipped into her Yukata.  
  
"Soon." he said to the wind, "Soon."  
  
--  
  
Kaoru woke with a splitting headache.  
  
She turned away from the light spilling in from the open window and buried her head under the covers.  
  
"Kaoru-dono? Here, take this." Kenshin was standing over her.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, warily eyeing the powder.  
  
"It is something Sano gave me, it will kill the hangover effects." he said, blushing slightly.  
  
She grabbed it and downed a little.  
  
Half an hour later, she was sitting at the breakfast table with the others.  
  
The center-peice of the table, today, though, was the music box from last night.  
  
She stared at it, examining the intricate details carved by skilled hands.  
  
"Where do you think it came from?" She asked, her brows coming together.  
  
"I don't know, but it had today's date on it."  
  
"Then..."  
  
"I suppose so."  
  
"I have to go into town, and i think you all should accompany me." Saito said, standing.  
  
They all rose and went to get ready.  
  
--  
  
Thirty minutes later as they walked through town.  
  
Kaoru and Kenshin were close, as well as Sano and megumi.  
  
The Kenshin-gumi was confronted from all around, when a group of about thirty samurai surrounded them.  
  
Kenshin snarled, his eyes bleeding golden as the mibu wolf drew his sword.  
  
Aoushi stood motionless, one hand on the hilt of his katana, and Sanouske cracked his nuckles.  
  
Yahiko and Kaoru weilding their bokken easily, stood with the others.  
  
Megumi was pushed behind Sanouske by a rough hand.  
  
"Stay." sano said over his shoulder.  
  
A few of the men surrounding them moved aside and a man dressed in flaming red stepped in front of them.  
  
"Kamiya Kaoru, You accepted my gift, no?" he asked, his voice gruff.  
  
"Who do you think you are talking to Jou-chan like that you jerk?!" Sanouske yelled, cracking his knuckles.  
  
"My name is Higurashi Gemni, your betrothed, Kamiya Kaoru!" he said, startling the seven before him.  
  
"No! I don't have a betrothed! You are sick!" Kaoru yelled, moving closer to Kenshin.  
  
"You accepted my gift, which means we are engaged. Your stupid whore of a mother gave me to you just before she died, Kamiya. i just had to wait until that stupid father of yours was out of the way!" Gemni said, a smirk on his face.  
  
"You lie!" Kaoru screamed.  
  
"That scar on your back, Kaoru, That is my mark. You can never claim that you are not mine, wench!" Gemni yelled, his eyes wild.  
  
"Kaoru, is this man lying?"  
  
"I...I don't know." She whispered, clutching her chest as she sunk down onto the dirt.  
  
The seven moved around her so that she was near megumi.  
  
"Kaoru, it will be okay." Megumi said, wrapping her arms around the crying woman.  
  
"Aa. I will make sure of that, that i will." then the batthosai turned to the other man, the one that was causing so much pain. "Leave now, she does not want you, that she does not."  
  
"Kaoru, you will be mine, even if i have to remove everything else you love in the process!" with that, Gemni jumped onto a nearby roof and disappeared.  
  
The men that they had nearly forgotten about attacked, then.  
  
Kenshin dodged an attack and flashed through the crowd, just as Saito and Aoushi were.  
  
Sanouske punched out several men and then checked on how the others were doing.  
  
"They just keep coming!" He shouted.  
  
They all heard a scream, and looked toward it's origin in horror.  
  
A samuri had his katana buried in Kaoru's arm, Yahiko unconsious on the ground nearby.  
  
"You will not hurt my deshi, even if he is a snot nosed brat!" Kaoru snarled. the hand that wasn't being used as a sheath for this man's katana clenched into a white fisted ball.  
  
She screamed and wrenched her arm out from the blade and punched the startled man's face in.  
  
She jumped on him when he fell and began pummeling her fists into his face, ignoring the gaping wound on one arm, even as it splashed blood onto her face and everything around them.  
  
Kenshin smelled blood and saw red. He used blows that would kill if his ruroni side hadn't had some amount of control.  
  
they worked their way in, toward the doctor and the vicious Jou-chan.  
  
"Kaoru!" Saito yelled, grabbing her uninjured arm, and was surprised when she shook him off without trying.  
  
Aoushi grabbed her from behind and tried to drag her off of the screaming samurai, but it was useless.  
  
Kenshin grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms to her sides and held her firmly until she stopped struggling and sat there sobbing.  
  
"Kaoru, it will be fine, we'll do something, that we will." He whispered into her ear, even as her blood soaked their kimonos.  
  
She passed out from bloodloss, her face pale.  
  
"Megumi-dono, Please, take care of her." he said, standing to join the others.  
  
Yahiko was dragged over to where Megumi was trying to take care of Kaoru.  
  
"Kaoru-dono, please hold on!" Kenshin called, even as he brought his sakabatou down onto a man's head.  
  
Finally, the endless swarm of samurai ended and the ones left ran off into the alleys.  
  
"Sanouske, go to the police headquarters, there is a man there named Bakura, tell him to bring squadrant fiftey-nine, and to make it fast." Saito said, wiping the blood off of his katana.  
  
Kenshin ran with Kaoru in his arms to the clinic a few blocks away.  
  
"Doctor Gensai! Please, Kaoru's hurt!" he yelled as he ran in.  
  
Gensai stepped from around a sheet and motioned to an empty bed.  
  
Kenshin lay her down and let Gensai take a look at her arm.  
  
"Give me my kit, it's on the table behind there." gensai said, a worried frown creasing his wrinkled face.  
  
--  
  
--  
  
Kaoru woke up gradually, first she could hear, people were talking frantically over her.  
  
"If she doesn't wake soon, she may not wake at all." a woman said.  
  
Kaoru placed that voice with a name, Megumi Takani.  
  
"Jou-chan has to wake up." That was Sanouske.  
  
"Busu had better not die, she still has to teach me swordsmanship." this teary voice belonged to a ten year old Yahiko Meojin.  
  
"Please, wake up, Kaoru-dono." Came another voice, one that made her want to smile and cry at the same time. Kenshin's voice was filled with sadness and worry.  
  
'I'm awake!' she wanted to scream, 'i'm here!'  
  
Then she could feel, She felt pain, sharp blinding pain that made her want to scream, and then she felt a hand in her own, a small, slender, sword calloused hand.  
  
Then she could move.  
  
She groaned and opened her eyes, blinking in the harsh light.  
  
"Kaoru!" they all shouted, making her grimace.  
  
"Quit yelling." she grouched, closing her eyes. "I can hear you well enough."  
  
--------------  
  
Okay, yall, watcha' think? Should i continue? or just give up?  
  
Oh! and by the way, i'm co-writing a Wolf's Rain fic, it's called The Wolf Maiden, (i think) by Kimera diablos. Read it and tell me what you think as well. Please!?  
  
My name is Booger and i am Blue! - Me 


	4. Chapter Four: Sorry for the hiatus Kaoru...

just one correction about my last insert, It's not the wolf maiden, it's Wolf's Maiden. Please read, she's accepting annonymous reviews now, i had to show her how to fix that little thingie.

That's how i get most of my reviews anyways.

okay, now to the end of my haetus, and the beginning of the next chapter.

-----

Saito stood outside of the clinic, smoking a cigarette. He had been kicked out by Megumi and Gensai.

"Hajime, Sir!" one of the 59 elite, Saito's private regime, yelled as he raced toward him.

"Houshi, What is it?" The mibu wolf asked, tilting his head.

"The man, Gemni, he was a general in the war. He was an assasin in the war." the man said, catching his breath.

"Are you sure?" Saito demanded, looking warily at the door.

"Hai."

"Go back to base, tell noone of this." Saito said, walking into the clinic, tossing his cigarrette onto the ground.

------

Kaoru looked from face to face, each wore a grim expression of mixed worry and anxt.

"What is it?" she asked, Saito had just come in.

"Gemni, He was an assasin for the imperial army. I think one of the last." He said, staring at kenshin.

"What?" Yahiko demanded.

"Kenshin, have you ever heard of this guy?" Sanouske asked, confused.

"No. I have not." Kenshin said, his brows drawing together in thought.

"Kaoru?" Megumi was asking her, searching the girl's eyes.

"I have to go." She said, pushing Kenshin away.

Kaoru stood and walked out into the harsh sunlight.

She raced away from the clinic, her breath coming in sharp pants.

She had to get away.

She had seen what Gemni was able to do. Long ago, when she was little.

She had been saved by him, once.

---

Flashback888

"Run!" The teen yelled at her, he was fighting big men.

They had tried to attack her, they had tried to take her.

She stood there, watching as they ganged up on her savior.

she jumped in to save him, Slashing and kicking at the men to save them both.

She didn't realize she was hurt until they had gotten home.

She had collapsed on the floor.

When she woke, she was bandaged and in her bed.

She stared at the boy that had saved her, and she had saved him.

"What's your name?" Kaoru asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Gemni." He said, "What's yours?"

"Kaoru."

She was eight.

End flashback

---

Kaoru collapsed against the wall.

Her heart was beating in her ears.

Like a wild drum, drowning out all other sound as it began to rain.

Large drops cold as ice to fall upon her head and to drip onto her lap.

She stared at her hands in her lap, the rain was like a veil dripping from her hair to mix with her tears.

This was her fight.

She had to do this.

Her dreams would come true if she didn't do this.

---------

Kenshin stood, dumbfounded as he watched the woman he cared about run out the door.

He snapped himself out of it.

He raced out into the crowded street.

She was gone.

He walked through the streets searching for her.

He walked as the skies darkened with heavy clouds and the heavens burst and began to cry.

He shouted her name as he walked.

He knew what she was feeling.

Kenshin stared into alleys, searching for any sign of the raven haired woman.

"Kaoru!" he shouted her name again.

She was gone.

---------

Sorry for the hiatus but i kinda lost the inspiration for a while.

Thanks for your loyalty and patience.

I know how much it is agravating.

Don't test the water with both feet. -a quote from my school. 


	5. Chapter Five: Resting

Okay, yall, sorry for the wait, but it's here now! The next chapter! Yayness!

-------------------

Kaoru stumbled out of the alley, and into ruffian row.

She walked slowly, travelling deliberately toward a warehouse near the end of the street.

She knocked on the door, then stepped in.

"June?" She yelled, calling for the old man.

When he called out, she followed his voice.

"My old friend." she said, embracing him.

"What brings you here, my dear?" He asked, embracing her.

When they were seated and were drinking tea, she told him of her dreams, and of the past few days.

"Ah." He nodded to himself. "You wish information on Gemni Higurashi. He is staying at 145, ruffian row, beside your friend, Sanouske Sagara. This information is free." he told her as she reached inside her kimono. "It's for old times. Now, tell me about you, and who is this Himura that has been staring after you like a pup?" He asked, changing the subject.

"He's Kenshin. He used to be an imperialist figher, but has sworn never to kill again. He saved me from Gohe Hiruma, twice. He's a good cook, better than me at least.He's got a sense of humor, and is great with kids, but you wouldn't want him as an enemy..." she started.

They talked till around one in the morning, when he told her to find a room in his house to sleep.

Then she obeyed his order without thinking and found her old room and curled up on the futon.

---------

"Kaoru!" Kenshin yelled, racing through the streets.

"Kenshin, she's gone. We'll find her in the morning. She can't go far, she's injured." Megumi said, grabbing his arm.

he wrenched his arm out of the woman's grasp.

"I have to find her!" he shouted, before he jumped onto the roof again.

"You are still human, Kenshin! You can't help her if you are hurt!" Sanouske yelled toward the retreating figure.

The figure stopped, then dropped to the ground.

He backed under the awning and crouched against the wall, the rain hiding his tears.

---------

Gemni watched in anger as the battosai looked for kaoru.

So, he had lost her, and she was now alone.

He snarled and raced off to search for her as well.

She would be his!

-------

Kaoru woke to sunlight and fresh food.

She looked up at the kind old face above her.

"You're sick. You're staying in bed." June said, nodding as if she had already agreed with him.

He had been her mother's childhood mentor, and her godfather.

"Ano..I have to help them." She said, tring to get up around him.

"No. You rest. i will find something, i promise." He said setting the tray on her lap. "Now, Eat." He said, standing over her.

He waited until she was halfway finished before he left.

He came back just as she took the last bite.

"Arigato, June, I needed that." She said, smiling wearily up at him.

He took the tray and set it down next to him.

"Now, lay back down, and i will tell you a story." He said, smiling.

Somehow she felt like she was four again, but she didn't care.

"Long long ago, in a land so far away that noone even knew existed, there lived a dragon prince. He was firy red and golden violet, and he shone above the rest of the dragons, He was made to go on a killing rampage by an evil miko. When he realized what he had done, he tried to kill her, and failed.

When she died, he swore to never kill again.

Then he met a human girl, She was sixteen, and had long black hair, so soft it could best silk.

She was beautiful, but rowdy, and she liked to fight dragons. One day, though a human tried to kill her, and the dragon prince saved her, leaving the man to rot in prison..."

She drifted off to sleep.

When her breathing evened out, he stopped and watched her for a few moments.

She had sure grown up, Little Kaoru had always wanted to be just like her father, but she looked like her mother.

June picked up the tray and padded out of the room, back to his research.

------

Yeah, it's short, but it's only a bridge until the next chapter, which will get interesting.

I promise fluffness in the next chapter!!!

Blood..Guts..glory..Me happy! -me. 


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